Nothing new on the watching front... been out and about and not in front of the tv as much. We did our usual "mystery sunday" which was mainly Murder She Wrote this week... My aunt joined us for an episode after our several hour visit to a local cemetery and nature preserve on Sunday.

I'm continuing my LOTR in 20 minute increments (at lunch) - which is hilarious... seems to be I have to go back to work on a cliffhanger pretty much every day... (well, not that I haven't read the book a billion times and seen the movie a billion times... I'm exagerating... slightly.)

Saw District 9 Thursday at a screening sponsored by aintitcool.com and was blown away...one of the most intense, provocative and disturbing movies I've seen in many many years. It's a very cynical, but IMO right on, evaluation of how we treat those who are different from us. The political and social allegories are contained within a well-made suspenseful "action" movie although this is much more intelligent and non-cliche than 99.9 percent of action movies, esp. SF ones. Several gut-wrenching scenes that almost reduced me to sobs. The movie also features one of the most complex lead characters - a person who doesn't have a simple "bad guy to good guy" arc, but is much more fleshed out. It's a very depressing film and even though some folks laughed at some scenes, I think there is only one scene that inspires laughter, and I'll bet Peter Jackson had a hand in it as it resembles the humor from his films such as Bad Taste, Dead-Alive, and Meet the Feebles. But other than that one "laugh" this is a grim and disheartening film, although bloody brilliant and, in a certain way, entertaining at times. Definitely not for the squeamish, esp. if Cronenberg's The Fly made you queasy. Extremely violent, both physically and emotionally. The final shot in the film just tears you apart - it is so tenderly poignant yet so horrifically tragic.

Wow, this was incredible! I saw it today and definitely thought it was going to be an extremely dark movie for the first 30-40 minutes or so. What was the most squeamish was the anticipation of what you think is going to happen, but as certain scenes pan out, there's a bit of a relief from the imagined horror. The second half of the movie is more adrenaline as they fight back. It's interesting how the violence toward the opressed is so repulsive, yet it was hard not to feel satisfied when the same violence is inflicted on the aggressors. Bill's right, the lead actor was fantastic. I also never cared much for or about CGI characters before like I did with this movie.... Definitely one worth buying on DVD, and I never do that. I'd rank it up there with Children of Men in terms of dark, intelligent Sci-fi with just enough action and effects payoff to keep the "awe-struck kid within" at the movies satisfied. This was even a low budget movie by relative standards, and hopefully that's the wave of the near future- sci-fi movies with great stories where the effects are the caboose and not the engine. I'm really looking forward to seeing another such movie called Moon... maybe won't get to it before it leaves the theatres here. Anyway, District 9 is two big thumbs way the hell up.

So, after seeing Judas Priest this weekend, I had to go home and watch "Spinal Tap". (JP was awesome, BTW. I've never seen a band open with an entire album, song for song (British Steel)). Then "Goya's Ghosts" (Natalie Portman keeps getting beter and beter). Last night was "Waking Ned Divine". Love that movie.

Here's a bit for a laugh, thought of it this morning on the way to work. I call it mixing the teleplays.

PicardNumber one, get an away team together and try to gather more information on this planet.

Took the kids to see Alice Cooper's "Theater of Death" show in Biloxi. Good family entertainment.

Watched "A Clockwork Orange" last night. I have seen that movie so many times, but never realized how many people are wearing orange.

I happen to be extremely pissed at the Disney corp. What's the deal with releasing "Snow White" on DVD for $25, DVD and Blue Ray disc together. No choice, you have to buy the Blue Ray. I'm looking for someone with a blue ray player, so we can split the purchase. What a rip off. I bet they do that with "Fantasia" in December.

Would you be happier if they sold you the DVD for $25 now and the BluRay for $25 in a few years?

One thing Disney has always done with their video releases is they release something and then fairly quickly take it off the market for 7-10 years, so if you want it, you have to buy it in the brief window when it's available, or find a used copy. I sold my Fantasia laserdisc on Ebay for something like $80 when it was hard to find.

When "Fantasia" was originally released on DVD, it was a 3 disc set with the two movies and a disc of extras. Never to be seen again. I got a Chinese copy at a flea market recently. Didn't play completely, but it was released in China last year. I read that it will be released in the US in December. Once again, probably in time for Christmas and on BluRay.

My point is that I don't like the idea of "gotta buy the BluRay to get the DVD." Besides, I don't see myself buying BluRays. Sure, I hear that they look better, that you can see the blades of grass, ect. But a) I can't see that well anyway, and b) I have way too many movies that look fine right now to switch over to BR.

My point is, if they hadn't included the BluRay and sold you the DVD for $25, you would have been fine with it. Why not look at the BluRay as a free throw-in, and hold onto it for when you get a BluRay player, which you eventually will. I remember when everyone said "VHS tapes look fine, why would I buy a DVD player and replace all my VHS movies?" and yet now you can't even buy a VHS tape, except used.

By this Christmas, $149 BluRay players will be everywhere and $99 players will start to appear, and next year it'll be $99 and $49. In 3-5 years you won't be able to buy a DVD player that doesn't also play BluRays (just like you can't find a single CD player any more, just DVD players that also play CDs, except in audiophile shops). Store shelves will increasingly fill up with BluRay discs and empty of DVDs, just like in the transition between VHS and DVD, except that in this case the new format's players will also play the old format's media. At some point, you'll be glad you have the BluRay and you'll say "this DVD looks like shit, let's just give it to your cousin so your neice can watch it."

I believe that "most" Blue-ray players will up-convert DVD quality a bit too.I'm looking at the OPPO BDP-83 Blu-ray - primarily because it also playsboth SACD and DVD-A surround-sound discs - keeping all my libraries alive.

I have an Oppo upconverting DVD player and it works great, plus it's region-free and plays PAL or NTSC discs, so we can watch DVDs from anywhere in the world with no problem.

I use a Sony Playstation 3 to view BluRay discs, and it does upconvert standard DVDs as well. At the time I bought the PS3 it was $600 (now $299) and the cheapest BluRay players were $800... and this wasn't long ago!

The Great British Synth Documentary. This is up on the Matrixsynth blog right now http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/. There are 7 of 10 parts here. It appears to be a history of synthpop in England in the '80's. I've only watched 2 parts so far, but it looks interesting. You may have to scroll down a bit depending on what time you check it out. Right now it's about five entries down. Harry

« Last Edit: November 05, 2009, 02:26:54 PM by hdibrell »

Logged

A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.

We breezed through all 10 episodes of Castle - season 1 - excellent! Highly recommended if you like cop/crime/drama shows.

It's not hyper gruesome like the CSI's have become. It's more of an ensemble show with a fantastic cast all around - every part seems perfectly cast. Toss in a bit of humor (Nathan Fillion is great in this) - and you have a great show. They toss in several twists so the killer is rarely who we guess it is.

Can't wait to see season 2 (yes yes it's on tv - but it's on at 9 pm... too late for us - we both work early).

The Great British Synth Documentary. This is up on the Matrixsynth blog right now http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/. There are 7 of 10 parts here. It appears to be a history of synthpop in England in the '80's. I've only watched 2 parts so far, but it looks interesting. You may have to scroll down a bit depending on what time you check it out. Right now it's about five entries down. Harry

A few weeks ago there was also a BBC documentary on Krautrock featuring interviewswith the likes of Edgar Froese and Klaus Schulze, Autobahn. I recorded it while I was away inSeren Fford territory, but the Oxford transmitter power was much reduced and the programme was unwatchable. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nf10kBoth documentaries were directed by Ben Whalley. Shame the German slant on synthesisedmusic only lasted an hour whereas the Synth Britannia had 90 minutes.

I was going to say no doubt it will be repeated... Just spotted it's on tonight BBC4 at 00:30.

It's gritty and raw, crude and filthy, violent and ugly, yet compelling as hell. Every character, from the drug-running cycle gang to the crooked cops to the white separatists, is an asshole, but I find myself rooting for the cycle gang even as they do truly nasty things.

F/X hit a bullseye with this show; highly recommended.

Logged

I wish I was a Glowworm; a Glowworm's never glum. 'Cause how can you be grumpy, when the sun shines out your bum?

Food Inc.- very eye-opening documentary about the food industry and the policies that make it what it is today.

Watched Blade Runner: The Final Cut. Not much different with the actual movie although it sounded and looked better than ever. The bonus disc was really what made me experience the movie from fresh eyes. Good interviews, funny anecdotes, deleted material. One of the most interesting things they left out, even Ridley Scott with the final cut, was a line from Gaffe's character at toward the end... remember right after Batty dies, and Deckard is sort of regaining his senses when Gaffe says, "You've done a man's job, sir".. or something like that? Well I discovered the following line they omitted: Gaffe continues with "... but can you be sure you are a man?" along those lines. Maybe that dialogue wasn't subtle enough to leave any room for doubt (given the unicorn origami shortly after), but it would've worked perfectly because when he says his line, Deckard is sorta dazed, and it almost sounds dreamlike when Gaffe comes in with his line. At any rate it was cool thinking about it

OK seriously, it sounds like an intriguing show. On the subject of getting hooked on a TV show about people very different from oneself, lately I've been into The Deadliest Catch, which is about Alaskan crab fishing. Good stuff!